


happily never after

by tigriswolf



Series: poetry [19]
Category: Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms
Genre: Coercion, Curses, Escape, F/F, F/M, Fairy Tales, Family Secrets, Fractured Fairy Tale, Gen, Magic, Poetry, Revisionist Fairy Tale, Secrets, Spells & Enchantments, Unhappiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-19
Packaged: 2017-12-12 07:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He broke the spell.<br/>He saved the princess.<br/>Of course he gets the girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	happily never after

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this poem this morning, in about 50 minutes. I made a few minor changes when I got back from Iron Man 3 (WHICH IS AWESOME, SO AWESOME) and now I'm tossing it out here. *shrugs* I really do love writing poetry.

It’s such a fairy tale, they say,  
Those two finding each other at last  
After years and years of searching,  
Years and years of ache.  
She’s clever, he’s brave;  
She’s lovely, he’s handsome;  
She’s a princess in disguise  
And he’s a pauper seeking a grave.  
Isn’t that what they say? 

.

Oh, sorry, wrong tale.  
Let me begin again, yeah?

.

There once was a princess, cursed;  
There once was a peasant, looking;  
There once was a witch or a fairy or  
An evil advisor in want of a throne –  
Wasn’t there a kingly father, somewhere,  
Or a queenly mother without a voice? 

.

No, no, that’s still the wrong story.  
Why are there so many to tell? 

.

Can’t you see the headlines now?  
PRINCESS FOUND, they’ll scream.  
PEASANT HERO NOW OUR KING.  
King. That’s quite a leap for a poor boy,  
Don’t you think?  
What about that princess – it’s her throne, right?  
No, she only ever held it in waiting  
If she held it at all. 

.

Wow, bitter much?  
He needs a reward, doesn’t he,  
And she did need to be saved.

.

(Did she?  
That’s the story told, of course,  
And we always know it’s the truth.  
About that, why would anyone lie?)

(Why would anyone lie?  
There’s a throne, and a crown,  
Power for the taking –  
A realm waiting for rule.  
No, I can’t see why anyone would lie.  
Not at all.)

.

Oh, but aren’t they so happy?  
She loves him – you can tell by how  
Nervous she is, never meeting his eyes.  
Such a sweet girl, so shy!  
And he, he’s so in love,  
Glowing with it as he gazes  
Adoringly at her.  
(Or is he looking at the gold around her throat,  
The jewels in her tiara,  
The marble floors and fine silver dishes.)

.

It doesn’t matter, does it?  
He broke the spell.  
He saved the princess.  
Of course he gets the girl. 

.

(Or does he?  
Lickety split, she runs.)

.

They’ll ask the mirror, of course –  
_Mirror, mirror, on the wall,_  
_Where does she run, our fairest of all?_  
And the mirror, I’m sure, will answer true.  
_She runs away_ the mirror will say,  
_Into a tale of her own._

.

(Is that a smile, hiding in the corner  
Of the voiceless queen’s lips?  
Oh, Mother, did you once wish to run?  
Oh, Mother, you wanted to run so fast.)

.

It’s such a fairy tale, they say,  
The pretty princess and the peasant brave.  
She was cursed and he has honor;  
He’ll find her and he’ll be our king.  
He’ll search for years, if he must,  
His reward finally in reach.  
Her prize is being his bride.  
What more could a pretty princess want?

.

_Once upon a time, there was a princess,_  
_Prettiest girl in all the land_.  
_Once upon a time, there was a monster_  
_Who once upon a time had been a man_. 

.

Let’s tell this story right.

.

There was a girl,  
Who just happened to be the only daughter of a king.  
What no one remembers is how that king earned his throne.  
He wasn’t the son of any royalty.  
What he did is legend,  
Though very common ‘round these parts.  
Our king was the youngest son of a noble who lost his fortune,  
And he saved our queen (still just a princess,  
Only daughter of another king  
Who had to earn his throne by marrying a princess)  
From a nasty curse. 

.

Who is casting all these curses?  
Why is it that all our princesses need to be saved?  
(We don’t ask that question.  
We don’t wonder.  
This is just how it is.  
Listen.)

.

Kingdoms need kings.  
You never hear anything about queendoms.

.

(Run run, princess. Run fast and run far.  
I don’t think you’ll find your happy ending here.  
Run, princess. Keep running and don’t look back.  
I hope you find your happiness somewhere.)

.

PRINCESS MISSING, the headlines scream.  
PEASANT HERO SEARCHES FOR BRIDE.  
He’s not so pleasant, now,  
Tearing up the kingdom for our queen-to-be.

.

(I heard tell of a realm, three lands over,  
By the sea.  
Two queens sit side-by-side on the thrones.  
While our peasant hero burns the forests  
To flush out whatever might be hiding,  
A law is passed there that breaking curses  
No longer turns ordinary men into kings.  
Our king is furious,  
But a smile lurks on our queen’s face.  
It won’t be long before she runs. )

.

It’s quite the fairy tale, isn’t it?  
She’s the queen on the throne,  
Holding hands with her queenly bride,  
And he’s shouting at the sky.  
She’s the princess no-longer-in-disguise  
And he’s the pauper about to find a grave.

.

Yes, that sounds right.  
Put it in the history books;  
Make sure everybody knows.

.

This is how the story goes.


End file.
